Hiccup
by MusicRocks26
Summary: Even the smallest, most insignificant things in everyday life can lead to terrible mistakes. Leo was about to learn this lesson firsthand. NOT CHARACTER DEATH. NO SLASH. Just so you know. Rated for blood. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: First TMNT fic EVA! It was meant to be a one-shot, but I think it might keep going… I apologize in advance for any mistakes, 'cause I ain't perfect. Anyway, enjoy! **

Hiccup

"You guys ready?" Leonardo Hamato's voice rang out through his home in the sewers, echoing off the walls. Michelangelo's voice sounded soon after. "Almost done, Leo! I just gotta grab my 'chucks!" Leo rolled his eyes and yelled, "Don!" His purple-banded brother rushed out of his room with both his duffel bag and his bo staff. "Yeah, I'm ready to go." Donatello nodded once before walking over to stand by his brother. "Raph!" Leo called. He was met with silence. Mikey broke said silence by running out of his room and almost tripping over some random object on the ground. He hopped on one foot for a moment, before he regained his balance and carefully walked over to the other turtles. He smiled and said, "You know, Raphie's really enjoying this."

"Of course he is. It's his favorite hobby to annoy the shell outta me, isn't it?" Leo muttered. "Raphael!" He yelled. His voice was loud enough to make the turtles next to him wince. The red-banded ninja casually strolled in from the dojo, a smug grin on his face. He had his sais in his belt and, as he walked over to the other ninjas, he twirled them happily. "Raph, come on, we have to-", Leo's sentence was interrupted by a hiccup. Mikey struggled to keep from laughing his shell off at Raph and Don's expressions, but it was Leo's shocked face that finally broke his self-control. Raph glared at Mike, who was on his shell laughing at his brothers before grinning again and asking, "What was that, Fearless Leader? I didn't hear ya."

"I said, we have to go topsi-", Leo hiccupped again but chose to ignore it and continued, "-de now to check the Foot's usual hideouts since Karai's i-", another hiccup, "-n charge now. Got that?" Leo finished with a slightly muffled hiccup. Leo glared at Raph, who nonchalantly glared back with an especially smug look on his face. Don and Mike rolled their eyes at their brothers' staring contest. This happened practically every time they went on patrol, which was almost every night, so they were used to it. Finally Raph shrugged and responded, "Well then, what're we waitin' for, Fearless? We got heads to bust."

With that said, the four ninjas left their home in favor of the sewers, before heading topside and climbing up a fire escape up on the nearest rooftop. Leo hiccupped quite a bit during the trip, but no comment was made. Once they got to the rooftops, however, their resident hothead couldn't take it anymore. "Leo, do ya gotta be so darn loud? In case ya forgot, we're ninjas, bro. _Silent _ninjas. So could ya shut up?" Leo opened his mouth to reply, but instead, a hiccup came out, which startled a cat in the dumpster below them. The clatter the cat made lit up several apartment windows and Raph slapped his hand across his face in frustration.

The annoyed red-banded turtle went to say something else, but Don gently pulled him away. "Look, Raph. Hiccups can't just be 'shut up'. You quit bugging Leo and let me talk to him. We probably need to go back to the lair so we don't risk alerting the Foot or anyone else with a death threat against us to our presence." Raph gaped, "No busting heads?" Don sighed, "No Raph, no busting heads tonight. Sorry, bro." Raph glared, but left it at that and stormed over to the edge of the rooftop, plopping down on the edge, to sulk. Donatello sighed. That was the easy part. Now, he got to try to talk Leo into going back home and skipping patrol tonight. Yay.

The brainy turtle walked over to his brother/leader, which was definitely in his leader mode right now. Said turtle was standing on the side of the rooftop that looked toward the center of the city with his arms folded across his plastron. "Um, Leo?" Don asked cautiously. Leo nodded to show he was listening, not wishing for a repeat of his attempt to chide their hot-tempered brother. "I think we should go back to the lair because you kinda already scared a cat half to death, and I don't want to accidently alert anyone, Foot or otherwise. And, you know, we could just head home, only for tonight, and we'd be fine. Just tonight," Don trailed off and flinched, awaiting his brother's reply.

Leo didn't respond for a moment. He hiccupped, and Don shifted his weight from foot to foot. Leonardo shook his head. Don frowned and asked his brother, "Why?" Leo waited until another hiccup passed before quickly answering, "I'm not hiccupping _that_ loudly. I think we can make a quick patrol before heading home." Then, he hiccupped. "Okay," Don said with a shrug. He walked over to his other brothers and paused. _Did I hear something? No, I'm probably just being paranoid._ He shook his head and continued on his way across the rooftop. Raph and Mikey were wrestling on the ground, so Don opted to stand on the opposite side of the roof and look around, just in case.

Leo managed to tell his brothers that they were going to go for a run without hiccupping. They leapt from rooftop to rooftop, flipping and showing off just because they could. It started raining, and the eldest felt something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. He commanded his teammates to stop, and they did. The blue-banded turtle scanned the rooftops around them, then the streets below. He heard his brothers playfully fighting and called for them. With a hiccup, he told them, "Keep a lookout."

"Any particular reason?" Don asked. "Something just-", he hiccupped, "-doesn't feel right," Leo responded. "Finally, a chance to bust some heads!" Raph cracked his knuckles in a very intimidating way with a slightly sadistic grin on his face. Mike glanced around. "I don't see anything," he reported. Don narrowed his eyes and looked around. "Hmm, it's not Purple Dragons, or else we would have heard them by now. Maybe the Foot," Donnie trailed off for the second time that night. _I hope not, _Leo thought gravely. _Maybe we _should _go back to the lair now. Maybe Don was right._

With those thoughts churning through his mind, Leo decided he was just paranoid after Don's request. He shook his head and glanced around again. Raph and Mike were arguing playfully and Don tried to break it up half-heartedly. _I just have a bad feeling, but normally that happens for a reason, _Leo realized. Sadly, he had realized this a little too late.

Foot ninja surrounded them now, on every rooftop around the one the turtles were currently on. _Okay, we're surrounded, visibility might be a little down, but overall not a problem. _Leo narrowed his eyes, three-fingered hands unconsciously reaching for his katana. _Our best chance would be: running._ He hated to admit it, but it looked like there were sixty to seventy out there, and they would be exhausted before the Foot's numbers were low enough for them to fight with their energy levels so low.

"Fall back!" Leo called. "What?" Raph yelled. "We get a chance to finally bust some heads and you say _retreat_?" Leo hiccupped, and it was surprisingly loud in the dark night. He heard laughing, but it was unfamiliar. Leo's eyes widened. _No, no I couldn't. I couldn't have!_ His thoughts tortured him as he realized that he could, and he did. He led their enemy straight to them. It was his fault, and if he had to, he would pay the ultimate price for such a foolish mistake.

"Fine. Let's bust some heads," Leo agreed. Mikey and Don gaped. Their brother must know that they had no chance against this many enemies, that they were doomed. Yet, he doomed them himself. What was wrong with their brother?

"Attack!" Leonardo yelled, and his three brothers did so. The Foot ninja charged as well, and it was all a blur from there. Leo dodged blades and arrows as he leapt into the midst of it all. He had to make this right. He struck a man in the stomach with the katana in his left hand, and said man fell, most likely to never get up again. Ignoring all other sensations, Leo was blowing through the fight as quickly as he would a simple kata he had mastered years ago. He felt no pain. _Must be the adrenaline, _Leo thought with a grin. He seemed to be enjoying this fight.

Raph was enjoying it even more. He couldn't stop as both sais flew through the air, cutting, slicing and stabbing so quickly he hardly realized what he was doing. The Foot ninjas didn't realize what he was doing either; they would be standing there, waiting for an attack to come their way, and then they were on the ground, bleeding to death. Raph just kept going, not stopping for anything, just givin' the dirt bags what they deserved.

Don moved through the fight unsurely. He didn't know why Leo was dumb enough to risk this fight. His body moved of its own accord, decommissioning evil ninja after evil ninja. He mind flew, thoughts bumping into each other, as he tried to figure out why his usually practical brother would send them into a battle they had no chance in winning. His bo staff smacking enemies aside, Donatello gave up on learning why Leo had put them into such a situation, instead concentrating on a plan to survive it.

Mikey ran through the army of ninja, nunchucks swinging wildly. _Wonder why Leo thought it'd be a good idea to fight this battle. I mean, wasn't he planning a retreat? Yeah, he was until Raph started yellin'. I can't remember what he yelling about, but I guess it changed big bro's mind._ He shrugged and thought about the next issue of his Justice Force comics that was coming next week, still fighting.

By now, only half of the original number of Foot remained, but the same had happened to the turtles' energy. Leo's body wanted rest, but his mind yearned for everything to become right again. He had to adjust the balance. His intense desire to make things as they should be took away some of his concentration from checking on his brothers and moved it towards reaching his goal. He was distracted, much too distracted.

Raph was getting bored. He took out one ninja and two more took its place. They had the advantage in numbers, but the turtles had the advantage in skill. The problem was, the Foot had less skill, but with all the ninjas there, they had more energy. Raph realized that it _might _have been better to retreat as Leo had decided, yet he had ignored. He told himself that they couldn't run now, and he couldn't change the past. It was too late.

Don hit the ground hard, but got back up quickly, leaping back into battle again. He wasn't sure why, but he seemed to have more ninjas attacking him than his brothers did. Maybe they thought he was the weakest. They should know that they were all strong, so what was it that caused them to plan this so? _Maybe, _his mind whispered, _you _are_ the weakest._ Don ignored that train of thought and decided it was something else, he just didn't know what yet.

Mikey yelped. Those arrows came outta nowhere! He glared at the last archer and threw a shuriken at him, accurately killing him. _Good, no more random raining arrows._ Those were just plain annoying. He pulled the shaft out of his arm and realized it had hardly pierced his flesh. He rolled his eyes and threw it at the nearest enemy, successfully disarming him from a quick strike to his wrist. Mike finished him off, and went to the next ninja, wondering when this stupid fight would end.

Leo stopped, glanced around. He noticed that most of the Foot ninja were gone and only fifteen or so were left. The problem was, he was tired. All his energy was spent, but the battle wasn't over yet. _Gotta keep fighting, _he thought desperately. He coughed a couple times, and looked for his brothers.

First he spotted Michelangelo taking out any ninja dumb enough to get in his way. After the ninjas stopped attacking him for a while, Leo saw his youngest brother slump as he wiped his forehead. He made eye contact with Leo and gave him a look that clearly said, _I wanna go home and go to bed._ His left eye twitched for extra effect. Leo tried a sympathetic look, but it turned into a grimace. Mike turned away to go beat up another ninja, leaving Leo with his thoughts again.

Next, he found Raph. His red-banded brother was taking out ninja after ninja, but he looked just as weary as Leo and Mikey were. After knocking the last of the group to the ground, Raph turned to him with a tired smile. Raph turned away, not wanting his brother to see his pain-stricken expression. His ankle sure hurt like shell. Leo could see his plastron heaving from the other side of the rooftop as Raph turned. _Raph's tired. He's actually tired during a battle. This was such a stupid decision._

Finally, he saw Don. The scene hit him like a punch in the gut. Donnie, the one who had told him in the first place to turn around while they could, was thoroughly exhausted from the fight he had tried to avoid. Leo could tell by the sickly paleness of his brainiac brother's face that the fight hadn't gone as he'd planned. He had lost his bo staff at some point during the fight, and his duffel bag was on the ground at his feet. Leo watched from the opposite side of the rooftop as a ninja stabbed Don's plastron, but because it was so hard, he was still alive. Though, Leo quickly realized, they wouldn't be for long if they didn't take out the last five and get back to the lair now.

Leo gripped his katana harder as he ran to Don's aid. He took out one, and saw a flash of orange and blue-green as the next ninja fell to the ground. Another green blur, this one darker with a dash of red, took out a third. The blue-banded turtle noticed how deadly his family was when one of them was threatened, and worked that to his advantage. Donnie looked a bit stronger, and slightly embarrassed, as he knocked the remaining two to the ground with a roundhouse kick.

"Is everyone okay?" Leo's voice sounded weary and Don answered quickly, "I think we should get back to the lair before more Foot ninjas get here. We've had enough for one day, don't you think?" The others nodded and hopped down the fire escape as fast as they could, before climbing into the nearest manhole and splashing through the sewers.

"Are we all okay?" Leo repeated his question. He was worried about his brothers. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. If it wasn't for me and my stupid hiccups-" He was interrupted by a very excited Mikey. "Dude! Your hiccups are gone!" He cheered. "And _that's _what we should be worried about?" Raph asked sarcastically. Leo shook his head and told them, "Yeah, my hiccups are gone. Hooray. Now is anyone, other than Don, seriously hurt?"

He wasn't expecting an answer since Mikey was quick and good at dodging blows coming his way. Raph wouldn't answer even if he was hurt. That was just how Raph was. Mike shook his head and said, "I just got a nice bruise on my arm. And I'm tired. Ya know, a pizza sounds really good right now." Raph slapped the back of his head gently and muttered, "'m fine." Don was silent. Did he know something the others didn't? Well of course he did. He wasn't famous for building things out of scrap for nothing. But, something seemed wrong.

"Don?" Don had a hand on the wound on his plastron, trying to stop the blood flow, but it wasn't helping. Blood leaked through his fingers into the sewer water at his feet. "Oh, Don," Leo breathed. Not only was he losing blood quickly, his face was paling more and more by the second. He was stumbling a bit too, but none of them had noticed because Don was just that quiet. He was the stealthiest out of them after all.

"Raph." Said turtle nodded and picked Don up, cradling him like a baby. Don was still silent. "Uh, Don?" Mikey asked with a confused look on his face. "Shhh," Raph commanded with a smile. His younger bro had passed out in his arms, but the blood flow had slowed, and now Donnie was sleeping peacefully. Mikey whispered to Leo, "Totally a Kodak moment. Right here, right now, bro." Leo smiled.

The brothers continued, and Don stayed in Raph's arms. At least, he did until Raph started limping about halfway back home. Leo pulled Donnie out of Raph's arms, muttering something about him knowing Raph was hurt. Mike put his arm around Raph's shoulders to keep his older brother up, and Raph reluctantly did the same, keeping it there the rest of the way back to the lair.

Once they got there, they found Master Splinter, April, and Casey all waiting for them. "My sons," Splinter greeted, obviously relieved. "Guys!" April and Case called. Casey ran over to give Raph a monster bear-hug, but then he noticed their current condition. "Woah, Raph, whaddya do this time? Was it the Purple Dragons? They'll get it the next time we go out to bust some heads, won't they Raph? Raph?" Raphael grunted and jerked his head to Leo, who was still carrying Don. "Aw, man," Casey gaped. "Guys, what happened?" April asked, hands on her hips. "Yes, my sons. What caused these injuries?"

The turtles bowed to their sensei. Well, at least the conscious ones did. Placing Donnie on the couch, Leo began his explanation. "Master, I'm sorry. We never meant to stay out on patrol that long. It's just, I had the hiccups, and I scared a cat and then the Foot found us from the noise it made. After that, they attacked and it's my fault Master Splinter and-"

"Hold up," Raph interrupted, shrugging off Mike's arm and standing up as well as he could, he continued, "Your fault? If mem'ry serves me right-and I'm sure as shell it does-you were the one tellin' us to retreat. Master Splinter, it was my fault 'cause I told 'im to stay and fight." Raph bowed somewhat awkwardly as Master Splinter walked over and tapped both of them on the head with his walking stick.

"It is never one's fault. It is a chain of events that lead up to one larger one. Both of you did what you believed was right at the time. It is alright, my sons," Master Splinter reassured them. "No it's not!" Mikey exclaimed suddenly. "What is it, Mike?" Leo ran over to his brother who was kneeling by Don. Mikey looked up to his big bro with tears glistening in his eyes. "Donnie stopped breathing!"

"What?" Practically everyone in the room panicked but before they could do anything, Don started breathing again. Almost everyone sighed in relief this time. Mikey looked to the others, tears streaking down his cheeks, and the look broke April's heart.

"Oh, Mikey, it's fine. He's breathing again, it's all gonna be okay, you got that?" Mike sniffed but nodded nonetheless. "He needs medical attention," April stated briskly. "The rest of you need some too. Let's go!" With that, Mikey helped Raph into the infirmary while Raph comforted the still sniffling Mikey on the way there. Leo walked over to the couch to pick up Donnie. "You sure he isn't heavy?" April asked gently. "He isn't heavy. He's my brother," Leo replied with a shake of his head.

Leo carried Don to the infirmary where four cots sat, two of them occupied. Raph sat on the edge of his, and Mikey was just pulling himself up onto his when April and Leo walked in. The blue-banded turtle gently placed his brother onto the cot between Michelangelo's and his own before pulling himself up as well. April checked them over, starting with Don.

She muttered to herself before pouring hydrogen peroxide onto his main wound, then bandaging it. She placed enough painkillers for Don and a glass of water on the counter, followed by three more sets, each for the respective turtle. Then she checked Raph. She muttered again as she poked and prodded his right ankle. "Yep, it's sprained. Gonna have to stay off that for a while now, buddy." She gave him a smile, to which he groaned and flopped back onto the bed. She moved to Mikey, since his cot was next to Raph's.

"You've got a nice one on your left arm. That'll need ice for a while," April decided. Handing him an ice pack and whispering a few comforting words to the depressed turtle, she passed Don's quiet cot and moved on to Leo's. Said turtle was currently sitting up and April had to gently push him back down to check him over. "Chill, big guy," April soothed. His muscles were tense, as if he expected an attack to come any second. He let out a breath, and relaxed. She rubbed his shell then his shoulders saying, "Leo, it's not your fault, and Donnie's going to be fine. Right?" Leo nodded as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

April sighed. This had been a rough day for them. For all of them. Now, she heard Raph snoring, Mikey muttering in his sleep, and Leo's deep, even breaths. They would be fine. She forgot to give them their painkillers, but she could give those to them later. Right now, they needed rest.

She exited the room and saw Master Splinter and Casey's expectant faces. With a sigh, she explained their current conditions, but that they'd be well soon, with lots of rest.

"It's simple. Mikey needs to stay mostly in bed for about a week, Leo, I'd say the same as Mike. Raph, I'm thinking four, and Donnie," She shrugged. If you don't mind, I'd like to just come to check on them during this healing period. I'm honestly not sure about Don's state. Unstable, is the only way to put it. He needs five to seven weeks of rest. That's my best guess. Sorry I couldn't do more," She finished.

"You have done more than enough, Miss O' Neil. Thank you. We shall contact you if we need any guidance or assistance in this healing process. Thank you for being here for my sons. They may have passed without you." The sentence hung in the air until Casey swatted it out by saying, "Well then, the guys'll be okay?" April nodded. "Thanks Ape!" Case gave his girlfriend a bone-crushing hug. "I woulda gone nuts without Raph to bust some heads with!" April smiled.

"Master Splinter, when they wake up, give them the painkillers and water on the counter in there. I have them labeled, so you know whose is whose. We'll be going now, if you don't mind," She told the rat. He nodded. "See ya later!" Casey called, before the couple walked out.

Master Splinter checked on his sons. He saw Raphael and Michelangelo sleeping peacefully, but Donatello and Leonardo seemed to be having nightmares. Don frowned in his sleep, seemingly trying to roll off the bed onto the floor but the rails on the side of the cot kept him from doing so. Leo was muttering inaudibly, and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Feeling mildly alarmed, the rat master tried to wake Donatello first, but to no avail. He tried Leonardo next, and managed to awaken his son.

Don still turned in the thin, white blankets April had provided for him. Finally, he screamed. "STOP!" Then, he began sobbing. Master Splinter didn't know what to do. He noticed his other sons awaken and walk over. Raph was aided by Mikey, who had tears in his eyes once again. They watched in horror as Don's sobbing got worse, and when Splinter touched his second youngest son's forehead, he pulled his hand back in shock from the heat radiating from Don's skin.

"Oh, my son. My son." Master Splinter worried with his three conscious sons about the fourth. Mike was full out crying into Raph's shoulder, Raph was doing his best to comfort his sad brother, but he had tears in his eyes as well and they sobbed into each other. Leo watched with a blank look. How had it turned into _this?_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm bored. Just so you know, I have a very limited amount of medical knowledge so if I make a mistake about that someone please tell me. This chappie's a little dark. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. It's shorter than the last one, too. Also, _italics_ are going to be flashbacks and/or thoughts. I forgot the disclaimer last chapter so it's here for the next one. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT. But I think I had a shirt with them on it. I wonder where it went…**

Hiccup

_It was just a patrol. _Leo told himself that for the next week. _It was just a patrol gone wrong. It was just a patrol gone horribly wrong. _Guilt gnawed at him as well, only worsening each night when Don woke up in the middle of the night screaming. These nightmares had plagued him for an entire week after the fight. He felt so defeated. His brothers felt the same. They all felt that they could have done more. But what?

Mikey was dealing with Don's constant nightmares the worst out of all of them, even worse than Master Splinter. He didn't joke as much anymore, although he still smiled. That was more than the others could say. Raph and Leo had both cut themselves off, from each other and the rest of the family. Leo had always gone to Don for answers and advice; now he tried to talk to Master Splinter more, but even his sensei was as lost as the rest of them.

Raph wasn't the only one in the infirmary with Donnie on a daily basis. Mikey stuck with Don, refusing to leave his side whenever the purple-banded turtle had nightmares. When Mike himself had nightmares, which were quite often now, he went to Raph. Raph had almost, broke, it seemed. He comforted Mikey during the times he was needed to, but he couldn't comfort himself. Raph waited until four weeks passed, then was up and about. He hung around Mikey more, and around the others less. Even Casey was left out.

_No one would understand._ Mike's whispered plead echoed through Raph's mind, reminding him of the horrible things Don had been exposed to. Mikey was right, for once. That almost brought the faintest hint of a smile to his face. He and Mike were the only ones to know. They planned to keep it that way. Leo just wouldn't get it, wouldn't understand what Donnie had gone through, and Master Splinter would just make him meditate to clear his mind and make it alright. They already knew that that didn't work.

At night, Mikey told him again and again about the horrors their brainy brother had gone through, based on what Don had told Mike himself. Raph stayed silent, listened, but rarely spoke, and became Mike's number one comforter. Mikey and Raph always slept in Raph's hammock, and if Mikey cried, Raph rubbed his shell to soothe him and sometimes shed a few tears himself. If Raph cried, Mike was a mess. It all depended on the severity of the nightmare of that night.

Don screamed during every nightmare, but they were different words, different phrases. Sometimes, it was Raph's name. Other times, it was Mikey's or Leo's. He even screamed for Master Splinter every once in a while. The most common word, though, was by far the most disturbing. Stop.

Leo thought that he was talking about the night it all happened. Donnie would forever have a jagged 3-inch scar on his lower plastron from the katana a Foot ninja had used. Leo always imagined Don screaming at him to stop, to stop before they were in over their heads. The blue-banded turtle would forever hold his own scar: guilt. The physical scar on Don would constantly remind him of what had transpired that night, and the guilt he himself carried. He just hoped they could help Don accept the past and realize that they couldn't change it no matter how hard they wanted to.

Mikey always pictured Donnie in his weird secondary-mutation form. It had been horrible, and no one knew that better than Don. He had told Mikey the night he came back home and recovered from the experience that it was like his mind was in that creature's body. He had no control, and that night, he told Mike everything. He cried, and Mikey comforted him, not knowing what else to do. The usually optimistic turtle had felt a deep sadness then, and felt it now as he remembered the night it all happened…

"_Mikey?" A timid voice asked from the other side of said turtle's bedroom door. "Yeah, come on in Don," the comic book reading turtle called, shoving the comic under his bed. When Don didn't come in, Mikey walked over to the door and opened it to find a tearful Don peeking around nervously, jumping when Mike asked, "Donnie?" Don rushed in, dragging Mike with him and shutting the door._

_Don collapsed on Mikey's bed before the orange-banded turtle realized what was going on. "Donnie, what's wrong?" Donatello looked up at his younger brother with tears in his eyes. "Mikey I'm so sorry, I never meant it, I didn't know what I was doing, and I'm sorry bro, I'm so, so sorry," Don said in a rush, bursting into tears and rolling into a little ball on Mike's bed. Finally, when Mikey asked what happened, Don leapt into a long winding explanation about his secondary mutation._

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated again and again after he told Mike everything. Mikey finally understood what Don was talking about. "Oh, Don. It's fine. It's, ya know, over now an' stuff. So, uh, we're good. Right bro?" Mikey did his best to comfort his older brother but this was new to him. No one ever ran to his room from a nightmare or anything like that. They only came into his messy room when they wanted to get revenge from a prank he'd pulled on them. _

"_It-it was horrible M-Mike," Don sobbed into Mikey shoulder. "I could s-see everything that was happening, b-but I couldn't stop it. I…I think I had control at one point a-at April's but it was g-gone as soon as it came. I knew what was g-going on, but I couldn't stop it Mike. I couldn't stop it!" Donnie's voice rose in volume and Mikey wondered if their brothers could hear them. He hoped not; this was a private matter and even Mike knew that._

"_Shh, Donnie, it's fine, it's over." Mikey did his best to comfort him, but this was a big bro area, not a little bro one. He had no idea what he was doing. "B-but it isn't fine, Mikey! I almost hurt you, I almost hurt L-Leo, and Raph, and M-Master Splinter. I almost-" Mike cut him off by telling him, "Almost. You _almost_ did it, but you didn't, you got that, bro? Look, I'm don't know as much as you, but I do know that you did all you could. If you did anything more, you would've, like, exploded or something. You do so much for this family, it was the least we could do. Right?"_

"_Right."_

"_Now, do you wanna sleep in my bed tonight?" Don just nodded like a little kid. And that's exactly what they did._

Mikey told Raph about everything, and explained every detail again and again to Raph at night because he feared that was what Don's nightmares were about. Raph knew about it, and made that event a suspect in his mind, but he had his own suspicion as well.

Raph thought he was having a nightmare that involved the Shredder. More specifically though, the twisted future one from the parallel dimension he had been sent to by Draco and the Daimyo's son. He was the only one Don had confided in about that. Raph could remember exactly how the night had gone…

"…_And it was awesome!" Mike finished with a big, dumb, grin plastered on his face. Raph rolled his eyes. He was so full of himself. Leo smiled and looked to Don. "Alright Don, it's your turn. What happened to you?" Don looked seriously uncomfortable about the question. "Could I tell you guys tomorrow instead? I'm beat." The purple-banded turtle stood up and stretched for emphasis._

"_Aw, come on Donnie boy, just one last story. Please?" Mikey begged. He had his great big puppy eyes in action, but Raph knew Don was stubborn, so he decided to help his little bro. "Yeah, Don. You stay up anyway almost every night. What's one more gonna do to ya?" Leo just gave their resident genius a slightly pleading look to please the others. "Please, my son. Inform us of your journey," Master Splinter asked with a smile. "Fine," Don sighed, giving in. "But I'm going to make it very short."_

"_It was a messed up future where the Shredder took over and we had to defeat him and we did and everything was fine. It was fine." The last sentence was cold, and hard. Leo gave Don a questioning look. "Is that it? Come on, there's got to be more than that." Leo had seemed to be in a good mood tonight, but now it had been ruined. "Yeah, there's gotta be more," Mike added, excited. "Come on, braniac. We told you ours. It's only fair if you tell us yours," Raph pointed out._

"_Fine," Don spat, obviously angry. "This world was worse. Everyone was forced to work for the Shredder. You guys needed some talking to get back together and destroy the Shredder once and for all. We did, but it wasn't fun. I am _not_ going to elaborate." Don glared at them, and Raph was reminded of himself. Quick to anger, but that was his thing. Why was Donnie acting like this? "Good night."_

_Raph, his brothers, and his master sat in the living room, dumbfounded, as they watched their normally peaceful and quiet brother storm off to his bedroom in anger. "What just happened?" Mike asked slowly. Leo watched with unbelieving eyes. "What did we do?" He asked quietly. Master Splinter shook his head slowly. "My son, what did we do?" He echoed Leonardo's question. Raph shook his head. "It couldn'ta been _that_ bad," he said with an anooyed roll of his eyes. _

_Then, he saw everyone else's faces. "Could it?"_

_Their faces were telling him more. "Fine, I'll go check on 'im."_

_The sai-wielding turtle cautiously walked into his brother's lab. No Donnie here. Then, he walked into the smart turtle's dark bedroom. "Hello?" He asked nervously. He heard a surprised sniff and jumped. He narrowed his eyes and they began to adjust to the darkness. "Donnie?" He tried again to find his little brother. "Go away."_

_Raph frowned. Where was his brother? "Don, I ain't leavin'. Where are ya?" Raph growled. He needed to find Don now. "Go away." Huh, Don was growling, too. This should be interesting. "Raph I said go away!" Raphael grinned and threw himself at the source of the sound._

_He heard a yelp as he landed on a shell. That hurt like shell. Wait, it was shell. "Raphie, get offa me." Don mumbled from underneath the bigger turtle. He heard quiet, sad music playing. Great, a sad mood. Perfect._ _"Don, what happened?" Raph didn't waste time, and Don didn't either. "Raph, it doesn't matter. I won't tell you. Get out." Raph glared. "You're gonna tell me, and you're gonna tell me now."_

_Raph expected the argument to continue, but Don gave in immediately. "Fine," Donatello sighed. "You sure you want to know what happened?" Raph smirked. "It couldn'ta been that bad," he said without thinking. Don sat on the bed, but Raph stayed standing. "Raph, just sit. Please?" Raph realized this was serious and sat down next to his brother. _

_Don began telling Raph everything, and when he got to Mikey's death, he started sobbing all over again. He kept going until the end nonetheless. Once he finished. Raph was in tears as well. They hugged and cried and Raph tried to calm Don down after a while. Then, they slept together in Don's bed._

Raph never told anyone about that night. It was a touchy subject for Don and even himself. He just couldn't believe that his brother watched his family die. The Shredder had caused it all, and Raph was afraid that Don had developed a fear of him. Well, now it was a her, technically. Raph figured Don was watching the events of that day over and over and over during that nightmare. It made sense to Raph.

Don was down for a week. He finally woke on the second day of the second week. He was groggy and barely coherent, but awake. He accepted food and water gratefully, but felt exhausted. Mikey talked to him whenever he was awake, but every time they reached the subject of Don's nightmares, Don claimed he was still tired, even if he'd just woken up. He hadn't had any nightmares since then, though, which was definitely good.

Raph tried talking too, but only when Mike was ordered to bed. He was back to his usual self now that Don had awakened. Leo only checked on his brother if he had to. He didn't want to risk even a glance at Don's scar. Master Splinter seemed to act like he knew something the others didn't. He talked to Don, but they were always quiet and serious talks that the others didn't understand. That made them extra worried though.

The next couple of weeks went by in a blur. Don recovered, and the others continued their training. They didn't go topside for five weeks total, which drove Raph nuts. After Don woke up, he'd made more contact, and both he and Mike had gotten back to their usual selves. Leo and Master Splinter had taken their places in behavior. Now, Leo strayed from them all and Master Splinter talked to them less. The others didn't know what to do about it.

Now, it was clear that there was a problem. Don and Splinter's secret talks plus the fact that Don had been in bed for over five weeks and was only awake half the time spelled out something horrible. Obviously, Splinter already knew, but none of the guys did. Leo had his suspicions, as did Raph, and Mike, but he thought about it more than his brothers. He wanted to talk to Master Splinter, but was afraid that he would be dismissed before he could ask about it. He would just have to wait.

Raph was worried. Mikey was pacing beside the couch Raph was sitting on. Raph abruptly stood up and put his hands on his younger brother's shoulders. "Mikey! Pull it together! Master Splinter is gonna come outta that door inna second, so chill! Just chill." Raph's voice quieted down towards the end of his rant and Mike let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Okay, fine. But I'm gonna keep pacing 'cause it makes it nice and dramatic," Mikey explained with a grin. A glare from Raph quickly sent him to the floor with a mumbled, "Fine." They waited as Leo came out from Don's room. They had moved the injured turtle there so he was a bit more comfortable. "So?" Mikey asked hopefully. Leo shook his head. "Master Splinter just won't tell me. Or any of us," he added, seeing Raph and Mikey's faces. For a moment, all was silent. The silence was broken by coughing came from Don's room.

The turtles in the living room ran to Don's bedroom only to have the door slammed shut in their faces. "Well, that probably could've gone better," Leo grumbled. "No duh, shell fer brains," Raph said, sinking down the floor. Mike and Leo followed his example. I wonder if-"

Another fit of coughing reached them through the door, and Mike's hand went to his beak. They heard Master Splinter saying, "Donatello, drink." Donnie refused. "'m not thirsty." His words slurred together. Splinter sighed. "Then please, rest, my son." They didn't hear Don's reply, just another sigh from Splinter.

Raph narrowed his eyes. Their sensei- no, their father, wasn't telling them that their brother was sick! Leo felt the same. He _was_ the leader after all. He should be told these kinds of things. This meant that they'd be short one 'til Don recovered. Then, he let his brother side of his personality take over. What was wrong with Don?

Mikey frowned. This should be a family thing. They should know about this. Unlike Raph, he stayed calm. Freaking out over this would get them nowhere. _That sounds like something Donnie would say, _he thought sadly. He realized he was thinking about his very-much-alive-but-kinda-sick brother as if he was already dead. _No dude, _he scolded himself. _Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, I got nothin'. _

He looked over at Raph, who was clenching his fists in anger. Well, of course he was angry something had been kept secret from him. Any of them would. All of them _were._ Then he looked to Leo. He had a scowl on his face, but showed no other signs of anger. Mikey quietly wondered why Donnie had been out of it for so long. Seriously, it wasn't really a fatal wound or anything that would take this long to heal. Something was very, very wrong.

_Wha…?_ Raph's sleepy thought immediately dissolved once he remembered the night before. _Huh. Guess we all fell asleep by Donnie's room. Wait, where am I? _After a brief moment of panic, he realized he was in his own room. _On the floor?_ He shrugged it off, figuring he just fell out of his hammock again. He stood up and felt his face. Something was missing… his bandana.

He normally took it off before he slept, but he usually had it in sight as soon as he woke so he put it on within the first thirty seconds of awakening. Now, he couldn't find it. He decided that he'd just have to find it later and walked out of his room to Donnie's. The lights were off in the lair and Raph wondered why. _Come to think of it, my lights were off too. What time is it? _

He took a couple steps back before he just turned around and walked to the kitchen. 2:17. Well, that explains a lot. He told himself he'd just check on Don once more, then he'd go back to sleep himself. He was walking back to Don's room when he heard screaming.

Just the sound chilled him to the bone, but even more chilling was what was being screamed. "RAPH!" It came again. But the most chilling part was that it wasn't coming from the two who'd had more frequent nightmares, it was coming from the one, other than him, that hadn't.

He ran as quickly as he could to Leo's room, finding his brother twisted up in his bed sheets. Leo had tears streaming down his face as he quietly whimpered, "Raph." Then it was gone just as quickly as it came. Leo trembled, and Raph realized Leo looked a lot like his little kid self like this. He figured it'd be a good idea to sleep with Leo tonight, but just tonight. So, that's exactly what he did.

Leo woke up shell-to-shell with someone else. He wiped his hand across his face, feeling dry tearstains on his skin. He noticed he didn't have his bandana on and tried to reach around for it, only to find his arm was pinned between his and his brother's shells. He wasn't sure which brother it was, but he felt said brother shift after he tried to pry his arm out of its cramped position.

"Leo?" A groggy voice asked. "You awake?" Leo realized it was Raph. "Raph? What're you doing in my bed?"

"You had a nightmare last night, and you were yellin' fer me, so I came in and stuff. Now 'm here and you're here and," he paused to yawn, "you had a nightmare."

Leo rolled onto his side, freeing his arm, as Raph did the same. "Sorry," Raph mumbled. "It's fine, Raph," Leo replied with a shrug. This was awkward for both of them. "I just don't remember having a-" Leo cut himself off and shuddered. "Never mind, I remember now." Raph stood at the doorway with his older brother awkwardly. "Uh, ya wanna talk about it or somethin'?" He asked. Leo shrugged. "It was just a sort of, flashback, you could say, of the other night," Leo trailed off and he shivered.

"C'mere." Raph stepped forward and hugged Leo, weakly at first, but once Leo returned it, it was full force. They stood like that for another moment before they broke apart. Leo smiled, and Raph did too, then they walked to the kitchen together. "So, whaddya wanna eat?"

Later that day, they found out why Don was in such bad condition. Master Splinter had finally decided to tell them, now that they knew Donnie was _not_ recovering. He was getting worse. After lunch, the three healthy turtles sat on the couch, watching the television together. They weren't fighting and seemed to be at peace with each other, so Splinter took advantage of their good mood.

"My sons, I have grave news." They spun around, peeking over the back of the couch, worried about their master's quiet tone. "Y-yes, Master Splinter?" Leo piped up. They were afraid of finding out what was wrong, but they wanted to know what was wrong with their brother at the same time. The old rat sighed, "I am afraid Donatello has been poisoned."

His announcement was met with looks of astonishment, as Don started coughing again. Mikey winced, tears in his eyes, as Leo and Master Splinter went to check on the sick turtle. Raph stayed with Mike, wishing for it all to be over. He had been getting better…

_And from there, it all went downhill._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Last chapter. I tried to make it longer. I stuck a song in too 'cause I thought it fit the situation. Would this be a three-shot sort of thing? Sorry for the long awaited update. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT. There's a reason these things are on _fanfiction _websites, not TV.**

Hiccup

Leo and Splinter came out of Donatello's room a few minutes later to find Raph and Mike huddled on the couch together, Mikey crying and his older brother trying to comfort him. Master Splinter sighed as his eldest son rushed over to try to help. The three turtles hugged and comforted each other like they were little kids again.

The old rat watched his depressed sons cuddle together on the couch and wondered what he was going to do. He didn't know what kind of poison it was or if it was fatal, but that information wouldn't help them now. Splinter feared the poison had already run its course through his intelligent son's body and the poison would soon finish the job. He was pulled out of his train of thought by his youngest son's exclamation.

"Wait!" Mike shouted suddenly through his tears, sitting straight up from in between his brothers. "What-what if we g-got LH and-and he could help D-Donnie again." Leo looked at Raph and the two eldest brothers shared a hopeful glance. "Master Splinter? Do you think we could ask him? I mean, he helped Don before," Leo trailed off, trying to keep from bringing up the outbreak incident but knowing that he already had.

Raph and Mikey looked at their oldest brother happily, and then shot a pleading look at their sensei. Master Splinter sighed; he had no chance in this argument and they all knew it. "Fine, my sons. But, we must wait," He answered. "Why?" Raph asked calmly, lacking his usual temper. _This event has changed us all, _Splinter realized with a sense of dread.

"Because, my son, we need time to think about this. We cannot rush into a battle without knowing our enemy," Master Splinter explained. "But," Leo objected, "What, then, do we know?" The others looked toward their father expectantly. They saw his mouth move, his eyes downcast, but didn't understand what he'd said. "What'd you say?" Mike asked. Master Splinter replied, "I said, we know nothing."

The next day, April and Casey returned to New York City after a long vacation at the farmhouse. After they got married, they'd headed out there and said they wouldn't be back for a while. A while turned out to be three months. They called the guys after unpacking the day of their return, and were answered by a very sad turtle who tried his best to be happy for the newlyweds' sake. He failed miserably, and April began asking question after question about what happened while they were MIA.

"Mikey? Mikey, what happened? Mike, come on, talk to us. What's wrong?" At this point, Mikey said, "Hang on a minute," and found Master Splinter. Not that he was missing, he was just in a different room than Mike was and he had to ask him something. "Can I tell them about Donnie, Master Splinter? Or, should we tell 'em later?" Splinter responded quickly. "Tell Miss O'Neil and Mister Jones to visit us here as soon as they are prepared."

Nodding, Mike left his sensei and told April and Casey what he had been told. They quickly agreed and arrived at the lair within ten minutes. "We got here as soon as we could," April said once she and her husband had found the Hamato family's home. They saw Mikey, Raph, Leo, and Master Splinter out in either the living room or the kitchen, but there was no sign of Donnie. April noticed this immediately and questioned about it once they had all been seated.

"Where's Don?" The words echoed off the cold walls of the lair as no answer came. Leo took a deep breath and began. "April, Casey, thanks for coming. We could use some help with this. We have a bit of a problem." He trailed off, took another breath, and then Mike interrupted him.

"Not a bit! It's a huge problem! Donnie's sick. Like, real sick. Not freaky-secondary-mutation-sick, but, like, poison sick." April gasped and Mikey continued. "We dunno what the poison is but Don's been like this for a couple, what, months?" He scratched his bald, green head with his hand, before nodding to himself. "Yeah, couple o' months."

Both April and Casey gaped at them, but Case recovered first. "Okay, wait wait wait wait. What're ya talkin' about? Why didn'cha tell us?" Raph shook his head at them and spoke for the first time since the two humans had gotten there. "Because, we knew you'd react like this. And, we just wanted to tell ya in person. Ya know, face ta face 'n everything."

After that was said, a silence fell, long and heavy, until coughing again echoed throughout the lair. "Is-is that?" April was afraid to finish her question. Leo nodded before he stood up and trotted to the kitchen. The other two turtles ran into Don's room and tried to help ease the coughing. Leo soon entered with a glass of water in one hand, a wet towel in his other.

He handed Mike the water, who quietly coaxed Don to drink some of it after the worst of the fit had passed. Leo placed the cold, wet towel on Don's forehead, which was warmer by the minute. Raph rubbed his hand up and down his sick sibling's shell, whispering soothing words in his ear as he did so.

After Don stopped coughing, Leo noticed something red on the floor. It looked like a liquid…

_The others can't see this! They'd be even more freaked out than they already are! We'd be a mess. This will be my secret. _Leo hadn't finished that thought before he saw his brothers' stares. _Oh, oh no._

They weren't staring at him, of course, but instead, at the blood on the floor. There wasn't too much of it, just a few quarter-sized drops, but even a spec would make them suspicious. Raph, Mikey, Leo, and Don all stared. Mike sniffed, and it took a moment for the others to register that he was starting to cry. Raph immediately embraced him as he sobbed, the sound muffled by Raph's dark green arm.

"Leo?"

The sound of his name shook him back to reality, the hard, painful truth that their brother might die within the next month if the poison continued this quickly. He shook his head and his gaze locked with a fearful, teary-eyed, childlike one. Wordlessly, he walked over to Donnie as said turtle began to whimper.

"Leo?" He asked again.

"Yes?"

"W-what's goin' on?"

The voice sounded so pathetic, so pitiful, he could hardly believe it belonged to his sixteen-year-old brother. He didn't answer his brother, choosing to listen to the sounds around him. He heard Mikey crying in the background, and a low rumble of comforting words coming from his usually gruff brother Raphael. He could hear someone else crying, but it sounded, girly. _April,_ a voice whispered in his mind.

"Leo?" Ugh, that voice. He couldn't take the sad, childish tone he was hearing. He realized that he'd have to answer sooner or later, and decided to do it sooner. "Yes?" The voice answered, "Am I gonna die?" That question took him by surprise. Was Don going to die? Well, of course he was. Everyone died eventually. But, Leo had a feeling that his brother meant something else.

"What do you mean?" He already knew what he meant, but he didn't want to admit it. He wanted to pretend this was all a nightmare, a nightmare that would go away after a few days and not haunt him for weeks, no months, on end. The voice interrupted his thoughts once again. "Leo, you know what I mean." Don was right. Don was always right. Well, not always, but almost every time. Leo decided to test that theory, something Don would do for fun.

"What do you think?" Leo waited patiently for his brother's answer. Don had calmed down a bit and by the sound of it, Raph and Mikey had left the room. He couldn't hear April or Casey, but they may just be too quiet. Leo couldn't concentrate very well with his thoughts tormenting him. Finally, he was freed for a moment by Don's voice, but the words brought him down to earth again.

"I think I will."

The next day, April, Casey, and Leatherhead were all at the lair to help Donatello. His condition had worsened; he was coughing up blood at least once an hour. Leatherhead was going through any and all medical or poison scenarios, but hadn't come up with anything. April tried to help as well, but ended up even more lost than LH. She didn't understand it, and neither did he. None of them did.

"Ugh!" April's sudden groan made Mike jump. "What?" He asked nervously, busily checking Don's bookshelf for anything about poison. "This is so _stupid!_ If you guys were human, you'd have access to medical facilities and we wouldn't have to worry about things like this!" Leo raised an eye ridge. "April, if we were human, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place," he pointed out smartly. "Well, yeah, but, you're not helping!" She snapped.

Raph chuckled. "Well Case, looks like we ain't the only ones with anger issues in here." Casey smirked at him and replied, "We? Whoevah said anything about me havin' issues? It's all you, Raph." The insulted turtle stood up and cracked his knuckles, walking towards the one insulting him. The one being threatened ran behind the nearest large, strong thing he saw.

Leatherhead.

The mutated crocodile growled and Casey gave a squeak as he ran to the couch. Splinter walked in, joining them in the lab. He chuckled, turning to LH. "Ah, kids."

"Tell me about it," April muttered from her seat on the desk chair at one of Don's computers. Both Leatherhead and Splinter laughed at that one, and April couldn't help but join in. All of them were a bit happier now than they had been a couple days ago.

Don had been able to help them with a strange meditation practice Master Splinter had taught them. It somehow converted some of one's strength to another, but it never worked before. They had given up on that idea at the beginning when Mike mentioned it. Two weeks later, Mikey asked about it yet again and the others gave in. It worked, which was unexplainable, but it ended up with Don being fully conscious even a little hyper and his brothers lying unconscious on the floor.

It had been a miracle. Now, they practiced it and soon they had it mostly evened out. Still, the extra strength wouldn't save Donnie. It would just buy him time. Everyone knew that but they were going to take advantage over their advantage.

"Leo?" A small, quiet voice asked. Said blue-banded turtle glanced over to see Mikey motioning for him to come over to him by the bookshelf.

"Yeah, bro?" Leo asked back as he walked over to his little brother. Mike shook his head and motioned with his hands again, but this time he pointed to the bathroom.

"You have to go to the bathroom? Can't you do that yourself?" Leo gave his brother a questioning look, to which Mike slapped his own face in frustration. "Dude, I have to show you something and the bathroom is the best place to show you it. Now, any more comments, or can we just go?" Leo smiled, shook his head with the grin still on his face, and walked into the bathroom, closely followed by his younger brother.

Mike closed the door in a hurry, pulled out a book he'd hidden somewhere-Leo did _not _want to know where- and flipped it to a page about three-fourths through the book. Leonardo frowned. His brother was acting serious. No, he wasn't _acting _serious, he _was _serious. Something was wrong.

"Mike, what is it?" The turtle in question held up one green finger to say _hang on a minute _before he held up the book, now flipped to the orange-banded turtle's satisfaction. Leo squinted. Whatever this was, it looked like it was written by a chicken. He couldn't understand a word of it.

"What is this supposed t-" Leo stopped himself as he saw a symbol he recognized very well. "The Foot," he growled. Mikey just nodded. "They will pay for this. If we can't save Don, none of them will _ever _see the light of day again."

Mike was surprised to say the least at his older brother's outburst. That was a Raph thing! Well, maybe this Leo would be fun. Too bad he wouldn't get to find out. They had to help Don first. Instead, he chose to ask his brother something that had been haunting him since the beginning.

"So what're we gonna do?"

The next day, Mikey and Leo showed Master Splinter the book with the Shredder's clan's symbol on it. It had been in one of Don's poison books, so it must have been created by the Foot in Japan at some point and somehow made it into one of Don's many educational books. They were planning to try the new meditation method and give Don enough energy to decode the book's meaning.

After their short session in Donatello's room, they brought him the book and waited for him to read the entire page. He finally looked up at his family plus April and Leatherhead and reported, "I don't have enough time."

Leo frowned and asked, "Could you elaborate?"

Don nodded. "Well, it's fatal and takes about five months to finish the process. It's been three months."

Mikey interrupted him and asked, "Well then, you have enough time, don't you? I mean, you still have like, two months. Right?"

Don responded with a negative. "It takes three to four months for the stages to reach their worst. Once I hit the fourth month, there's no going back. I'd only have so much time after that." He waited for that to sink in before he continued.

"The third month ends next week. In exactly a week, actually, I will reach that stage." He waited a moment, seeing the surrounding being's hopeless faces before he brought up the bright side.

"There is a cure. It-it doesn't say exactly, but I believe it mentions several different berries. Most of these ingredients seem to involve fruits and such things. Sounds healthy even if you're not poisoned," Donnie finished with a shrug, glancing at everyone's faces.

Leo looked doubtful, but ready to give it a shot. Raph looked determined. Mikey had a hint of his usual grin lighting up his face, like a gentle glow. Leatherhead and April had a mix of Raph's and Mike's expression, happy determination. Splinter's face was unreadable, as usual. _Well, at least he hasn't changed too much about all this, _Don thought.

"You're sure this is it?" Leo asked.

Don replied, "It fits perfectly. We were fighting the Foot that night, weren't we?"

"Well, that's a mix of good and bad. That's an improvement, I'd say." Michelangelo tried to brighten the mood with a simple joke. All of them had to crack a grin at the least.

"So, what's the plan?"

It was Thursday. Today, Don was going to be saved. Tuesday of the next week was the day the poison would be permanent, so they had time. They had a plan to save their brother, and it was going into action tonight.

"Alright, we're going over the plan one more time before we head out. Pay attention." Leo said, preparing to explain.

"We're going to storm the building, but not the main one. We're after the lab and the lab only, got that? We go through anything and everything. Our goal is to find the poisons lab. April already showed us the maps; we know the place like the backs of our hands. We get anything that looks important and anything that isn't. We grab it all and run. Got it?"

Mikey, Raph, and Leatherhead nodded. LH was going to take Don's place for this mission due to his understanding of the poison's information. He hadn't understood it at first, but Don had a way of explaining it that made some sort of sense to the croc. Without him, the plan was sure to fail.

"Let's go."

The three turtles and the crocodile were as quiet as they could possibly be as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop on their way to the Shredder's main lab building. Once they had it in their sights, they sped up until they reached the rooftop nearest to it. Of course, the roof of the lab was much higher than the one they were currently on. That was when April came in.

A helicopter landed loudly on their rooftop and they climbed on without a word. They were promptly flown up to the top of the lab, where Leatherhead created a great hole in the floor beneath them with brute strength. They quickly slipped in and split up into pairs, LH and Mike, Leo and Raph.

LH and Mikey ran down a corridor on the floor they were on, before jumping down the trash chute. He had to suppress a cry of surprise as he landed roughly on the floor of the poisons room. It was quite convenient for them to put one there. Soon after, he heard a rumble and realized that if he didn't move now, he was going to be a turtle pancake.

Thankfully, he jumped out of the way as a large crocodile landed on his tailbone in the exact spot Mike had just jumped away from. The croc got up, rubbing his butt and tail, before he saw a silently snickering Mikey who quickly shut his beak seeing LH's annoyed gaze. With that done, they looked around the place.

It was a large, spacious room with shelves and cabinets lining the walls. It looked a bit like a library, but instead of books, this place was filled with different concoctions. They were in vials, jars, and other containers. Some of them were recognizable, but some were completely alien to them.

As the two mutants looked around in awe, two more came out of the trash chute on the other side of the room. All four nodded to each other before searching the shelves for the right ingredients. April would only have the alarms disabled for another hour or so, so the guys had to work fast.

LH held the book Mike had found in his hands and pointed out what he suspected were the antidote's ingredients for the others to grab. They placed them in Don's duffel bag, and soon an hour was almost up.

"Come on, guys. We've got to finish this! We only have ten minutes left before the alarms come back into effect and we'll need at least five to get out of here without being spotted," Leo hissed urgently.

Raph muttered, "Then shut yer mouth, Fearless, and get yer butt movin' instead." Mikey laughed, albeit quietly, as Leo glared at his brother for a moment before he continued looking.

"What color was it again?" Mikey asked Leatherhead for the umpteenth time. Raph and Leo groaned as LH answered, "Red."

Leo grabbed a vial filled with a deep scarlet liquid and asked Leatherhead if that was it. LH glanced up and nodded. "That is all. We must go, now. The alarms will be fully functioning in three minutes."

"Three?" Leo asked. Mikey nodded and said slowly, "Yes, Leo. Three. It comes after two and before four, remember?"

Leo rolled his eyes before he commanded, "Let's move."

They all ran towards the trash chutes and placed their hand spikes on to grip the sides as they all climbed up. They made it to the floor they had started on at the beginning of the mission and got out to the roof. They waited a minute or so in complete silence as a helicopter landed next to them. April gave them a questioning glance as they hopped in and Raph gave her a nod. Smiling, she flew them away.

Once they returned to the lair, they rushed to Don's room only to find him gone. "Don?" April called. After a moment, Master Splinter's voice answered, "In here, Miss O 'Neil."

They followed his voice to the infirmary, where they found Don laid down on the bed in the room. Master Splinter sat down next to his sick son in a chair. "What happened now?" Mike asked.

"I am afraid your brother may have fallen into a coma."

"Wait, what?"

"You're joking!"

"This can't be happening."

Michelangelo was in shock. He wasn't moving, just staring at his brother. After all that they'd gone through, all they'd done, now this? He couldn't, just couldn't. He couldn't leave them! He'd already done that once, and they had to make a deal with the devil just to save him, to bring him back. Now, not even that would wake him. It all changed so quickly…

Raphael didn't believe it. He couldn't. No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't believe that his brother's life was on the line and he couldn't do anything to help him. Helplessness. One of Raph's least favorite feelings. It was like guilt, fear, and anger all mixed together. Don couldn't, no he wouldn't just leave them. He should've known that by now. He'd seen that twisted future and there was no way he would let it happen. Right?

Leo, the "Fearless Leader", now feared for nothing more than his brother. There was absolutely no way that this was happening, because if it was… If it was… If it was he'd be able to stop it. He could stop it, couldn't he? Yes, he could, but only if it was really happening. So, this must've been a dream. No, not a dream, a nightmare. But he could deal with that, because his brother was going to live.

April was crushed. April knew him like a brother. He was practically family. In fact, he was! All of them were, so they couldn't just let this happen. They wouldn't. They never would. He was going to wake up at any minute now and everything would be okay. This was all going to be okay, because it always was. It always was.

Leatherhead couldn't take it. He had understood this one, the intelligent, calm one. They were best friends, and they understood each other. Without Donatello, he would lose all sanity. He would have to be killed for the good of everyone around him. He needed Don.

Master Splinter had hope. He was afraid of losing his son but he had hope and a plan.

"Create the antidote."

The others' various trains of thought all derailed at Splinter's sudden command. "Why?" Mike asked. Master Splinter narrowed his eyes, and then smiled. "Because, my son, I have a plan."

Obeying LH, the others created the antidote as Splinter had requested, and poured the substance into a large glass. Once it was all prepared, Splinter placed it on a counter and told his sons to sit around Donatello in a sort of circle. April and LH stood behind as the old rat stood up and whispered something to April. She gave him a weird look but shrugged and left.

The others gave Splinter weird looks as well, but he ignored them, instead sitting in the lotus position, meditating. April returned with a CD player after a while of everyone just sitting there, quietly thinking.

She pressed the play button and a snippet of a song played quietly, but seemed to have a tremendous force based on the turtles' reactions.

"_Keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through. Just stay strong. 'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you. There's nothing you can say, nothing you can do. There's no other way when it comes to the truth. So keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through._

Mikey wiped his eyes quickly as he looked over to his brothers. Raph had his eyes closed. Was he praying? No, probably just sad. Leo was staring behind Mikey, his eyes as big as dinner plates. Mikey turned around quickly to see a miracle unfolding before his eyes. Don was awake!

The purple-banded turtle rubbed his eyes and looked around to see his brothers', father's, Leatherhead's, and April's smiling faces. He saw April's had tears and heard music playing in the background.

"_Keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through."_

He opened his mouth to talk, but a cough came out instead. The moment was immediately broken as everyone rushed up into his personal-space-area, making it even harder to breathe. Finally, Leo noticed this and shouted, "Back up!" Thankfully, the fit ended then as everyone except Master Splinter backed away. He was quickly pressed to drink a mysterious reddish-purplish liquid and he did as he was told. Then, he fell asleep.

"What the shell just happened?"

Raph was answered by Master Splinter after a quick laugh.

"My son, your brother enjoys music. Not only the science of it, but the sound as well. April happened to know a piece that brought your brother back to us. Otherwise, I am as lost as you."

Everyone smiled as they realized that Donatello would live.

The next week, Don regained his strength as everything went back to normal. Raph went out to bash heads with Casey every once in a while, but still used his punching bag, or Mikey, to vent out his anger. Mikey still played pranks on everyone and his smile rarely left his face. Leo went back to arguing with Raph, but the fights were never as serious as they had been in the past. April, Casey, and LH all visited still, Leatherhead less than the other two, but it seemed everything was good now.

One night, the subject of Don's nightmares came up. He was practically forced to explain, and he did.

"Well, it was basically me, as my secondary-mutation-form, at the fight where I got this," he pointed to the scar on his plastron, "and you guys died. I guess I was yelling stop because I wanted all of the fighting to stop. Then, the fighting _did _stop, but the Easter Bunny hopped up and kicked all the Foot ninjas to who-knows-where before it fell off of the roof and most likely died. It was, weird."

After that, it was never mentioned again.

**A/N: Well, there you have it. I added a bit of humor at the end, couldn't help it. If you review, you can guess the song I used, but you don't have to. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! The End. **


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